Area Foundation grants aim to improve graduation rate by helping middle school students stay on track

With one-third of students in Bexar County dropping out before they finish high school, we as a community must do all we can to improve the graduation rate. An educated population enhances our quality of life and creates new opportunities for all of us, especially young people, no matter what part of town we live in.

I am thankful that we have nonprofit organizations here in the San Antonio area working with students in many different ways to help them stay on track to graduate. Some of those nonprofits recently received High School Completion grants from the San Antonio Area Foundation.

The 17 grants totaling $311,722 went to public charities in Bexar County that provide productive “out-of-school-time” activities for students in grades 6-9. The Area Foundation two years ago chose to focus on programs for middle school-age students because it is:

an under-served age group

an extremely crucial age for making decisions and lifestyle choices with potential lifelong impact.

This is an age where we really can make a difference and we have some fine organizations that have taken on the mission of helping these kids value their own potential and realize the importance of taking their education seriously.

No “silver bullet” will fix the dropout problem and raise the education level in our area, so we are blessed to have multiple organizations reaching different parts of the population in a variety of creative ways.

Projects that just received High School Completion grants include programs designed to equip at-risk students with the skills needed to fill the high-demand jobs, including mastery of science, technology, engineering and math skills, also known as “STEM;” a program for pregnant or parenting students; and others that include homework assistance and tutoring and leadership development, enlistment of high school students as mentors for middle schoolers, community service projects and academic summer camps, among other activities.

Nonprofit organization Gemini Ink received funding for a program that features creative writing and speech workshops through the study of African-American folklore and myth. Students are from neighborhoods near the Carver Branch Library, and attend S.J. Davis Middle School or Martin Luther King Academy on San Antonio’s Eastside.

“The funding will allow Gemini Ink’s Writers in Communities program to reach out through the libraries to nurture an active engagement with reading and writing among area youth, one that builds cultural capital and spreads the joy of storytelling while building practical writing skills and confidence,” said Sheila Black, Gemini Ink’s executive

To qualify for the competitive High School Completion grants, organizations must:

• Provide evidence that students improve in the areas of school attendance, academic performance and/or behavior,

• Provide opportunities for students to engage in leadership activities and/or for families to participate in the program,

• Have a relationship with a public school teacher, counselor or administrator who can provide a letter of support describing the program’s impact on student attendance, behavior and/or academic performance.

One of the grant recipients, Good Samaritan Community Services, works on the near West Side of San Antonio with at-risk students living in the neighborhoods that feed into Rhodes and Tafolla middle schools. In addition to an academic component, its Youth Development Services program provides exposure to college campuses, business leaders, career opportunities and the importance of making wise choices.

“We have these difficult conversations with kids when they are developing their character, their thinking about the choices they make and the impact that those choices will have on the rest of their lives,” said Good Samaritan Executive Director Jill Oettinger.

Many of these young people will be the first in their family to attend college and break out of a cycle of poverty because someone took the time to provide them a safe place to express themselves and learn about the opportunities available if they stayed in school and paid more attention to decisions they make daily and the long-term impact on their future.

The positive change these nonprofit organizations are bringing about will move San Antonio closer to the “brainpower economy” that Mayor Julian Castro envisions. That is an economy with a skilled, educated workforce making this city attractive to employers hiring for the jobs of the future. We all stand to gain from that, and we can get there by helping our children stay on the right track with programs like these.

To see the list of recently awarded San Antonio Area Foundation High School Completion grants, click on this link.

Knox Pitts, a member of the San Antonio Area Foundation Board of Directors, serves as chairman of the High School Completion Advisory Committee, which helped evaluate the recently awarded grant applications.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

AboutSan Antonio Area Foundation

The San Antonio Area Foundation, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014, makes grants from funds established by individuals, families, businesses or other entities to support charitable causes. The Area Foundation manages more than $250 million in assets and has distributed more than $230 million for scholarships and grants to educate youth, preserve the environment, protect animals, fund research and provide services that enhance the quality of life in our region.